


Alola !

by yoshizora



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F, Pokemon AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-22 15:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 4,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9614807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoshizora/pseuds/yoshizora
Summary: On these sunny islands in the middle of the sea.





	1. abra

“I miss battling with you, sis.” Ruby twists the hem of her shirt through her hands, unable to look anywhere but at their feet. “I-I got better. I’ve been training! Ever since you left…”

But Dia is still leagues above her, surely strengthened by the ruthless tempering of the Battle Tree. It feels like years, rather than weeks since the last time she saw her, watching Dia’s back as she walked off into Poni Plains with Kanan. The two of them made it all the way through and reached the Battle Tree, while Ruby headed in the opposite direction and took the ferry back home. Reaching her big sister’s levels is simply an impossible dream, Ruby figured.

Dia puts her hand down on Ruby’s shoulder, but her eyes are focused elsewhere. Like she’s distracted by bigger, better things out there. “Have you evolved your Pokemon, then?”

Mortified, Ruby’s hands freeze and she bites her lip. “N-no, but I think… we’re close…” That’s mostly a lie. Her Pokemon still can’t do much else but nimbly dodge attacks, and just dodging isn’t enough to win battles.

In contrast, her sister’s are terrifying sights to behold. She must be unstoppable in doubles, with Kanan as her partner. Their battles are nothing like the fumbling fights Dia and Ruby held when they were only children.

“But you said you got better?”

“Just a little…”

Dia finally looks down at Ruby. “Do you know why I came back? Kanan and I lost. We had to climb all the way down to the bottom of the tree.”

“H-huh?” Impossible. Her sister, indestructible— Kanan, equally indestructible— they lost? Ruby could never imagine—

“To be fair, I don’t know how on earth those trainers had a _Zapdos_ and _Thundurus_.” Dia mutters more to herself than to Ruby, but tries to somewhat smile. “Kanan was embittered by our loss and decided to stay on Poni Island to train. I thought it would be better for myself to come home instead.”

“Sis…”

“It is… alright. Like you, I still have a long way to go.” Dia takes a deep breath and squeezes Ruby’s shoulder. “But until further notice, I don’t have a doubles partner to practice with.”

Ruby’s heart lifts in preparation for takeoff. She finally looks up, eyes wide when she sees that Dia is offering a small, round stone to her. An Alakazamite. She must have bought it with her hard-earned winnings from the Battle Tree. 

“You’ll earn your right to use it, in time. But keep it with you until then.”


	2. snubbull

Nico should’ve expected Nozomi to find her, given Nico’s amazing nonexistent track record of successfully avoiding her. She sighs through her teeth and looks away, arms folded. Snubbull whines and clutches Nico’s leg when she spots Nozomi approaching.

Running away would just be redundant, so she stays put.

“You’re _leaving_ ,” Nozomi says, taking the empty seat beside Nico. “Without telling anyone.”

Nico taps her foot against the ground impatiently. The ship isn’t due to leave for another twenty minutes. “Yeah, well, who wouldn’t have seen it coming? I’ve been talking about this for a while. It was gonna happen eventually.”

Nozomi smiles down at Nico’s Snubbull and reaches down to scratch behind her ear. “You didn’t even want a farewell party?”

No, she didn’t, because she isn’t sure if she would’ve been able to bite the bullet and buy that ferry ticket if she had to stay goodbye to everyone. Nico grounds her knuckles against her knees and says nothing, angry at herself and angry at Nozomi. She notes that Eli isn’t with her.

“Why isn’t anyone else _sick_ of being stuck here?!” Nico finally says, stomping both feet on the ground. “No one’s gonna get anywhere in this crusty old place. But I’m not like the rest of you— I’m gonna be a star, and the rest of the world’s gonna know my name!”

Nozomi patiently hums, still scratching Snubbull. She knows Nico is wrong; they’ve all got things to do, even if their jobs don’t fit Nico’s visions of glamour and fame. But she also knows that Nico isn’t fit for this kind of humble life, and keeping her here is only going to leave her with a life of regrets. There’s no such thing as being a Contest Coordinator in Alola.

“Well? Isn’t this the part where you beg Nico to stay, because you’ll miss her sooo muuuch? I get it, totally, I’d be shedding tears if I were you,” Nico dramatically sighs, her theatrics blatantly overdone. “But there’s just no stopping me. I’ve already made up my mind.”

“That’s fine.” Her smile widens. “Because I’m coming with you.”

“Wait, what.”

“Sinnoh, right? It sounds fun.” She’s always wanted to see a Spiritomb in person anyway, so. “I couldn’t let our precious Nicocchi leave all by herself and have a clear conscience. You’d get lonely, I bet.”

“You’re so _annoying_ ,” Nico growls, but her hands are trembling oh so slightly. She isn’t denying it, either. “Fine! Whatever. You can come with me. I guess you can be the first member of my entourage.”

To her embarrassment, Snubbull enthusiastically barks and clings tight to Nozomi’s hand. Nico fumbles for her Pokeball to call her back, but changes her mind at the last second.

“I’ll be cheering for you at your first contest,” Nozomi says.

Nico huffs. “Good! You better. Hurry up and go buy your ticket, already.”


	3. celesteela

The wind furiously whips up the desert sands. It’s nearly impossible to see anything beyond a stone’s throw, and the tunneling activities of wild Trapinch and Sandile do little to keep the landscape settled. Hanayo keeps close behind Rin, nervously clutching the back of her cloak in fear of somehow losing her should she wander more than a meter ahead.

“Are you alright, Kayo-chin? D’you wanna find someplace to rest?” Rin shouts against the howling wind, spitting sand in between words.

“N-no, I’m fine!” Hanayo shouts back. She squeals when a Trapinch bursts from the ground near her feet, but it seems equally startled and quickly vanishes again.

Around them, the desert continues to change under the force of the winds. When Hanayo looks behind them, she isn’t even sure if they’d been walking in a straight path or going in circles. She’d initially been reluctant to come along but she wouldn’t have let Rin go alone either. Navigating Haina Desert is no easy challenge, and without Hanayo’s help, Rin surely would’ve found herself lost long ago.

But now she’s beginning to fear they’re both lost. There’s nothing but stone and sand and stone as far as the sandstorm allows them to see through their Safety Goggles. Now and then she imagines she sees taller _things_ looming in the distance, but then they’re gone before she can point them out to Rin.

Rin, always the spirited one, hasn’t let her determination to reach the Ruins of Abundance be weathered down. She continues to march ahead, holding one arm in front to soften the blows of the sandy winds.

“Hey!! Look—“ Rin abruptly halts and Hanayo stumbles into her back. She feels Rin’s gloved hand slip into hers and pull her arm up, pointing their clasped hands up at the sky together. “See that?! What is it! Do you see it too, Kayo-chin?”

Hanayo squints and swipes at her goggles. There’s an enormous silhouette flying above them, not high enough to be clear of the sandstorm but not low enough to be able to see what it is. 

The shape nearly resembles some sort of bell or tower with a pair of long missiles hurtling along its sides. The shadow it casts sends Trapinch and Sandile scurrying away, and for a moment, the wind picks up to the point where it screams in their ears. Or is it the cry of whatever that thing is?

“That’s no Flygon…” Hanayo mumbles.

“What kind of Pokemon is _that_?!” Rin jumps up and down, still gripping Hanayo’s hand. “Is it even a Pokemon?! Should we follow it?”

But neither of them make any effort to move. The flying creature quickly passes and vanishes into the rest of the desert, leaving Rin and Hanayo still staring up into the sandstorm in awe.


	4. meowstic

“Mari called me,” Kanan says over the phone. “She said she’s coming to find you before she heads over to Poni Island.”

And Mari does indeed find Dia at the northernmost part of Malie Garden, only a few minutes after the call. She pounces before the chance is lost, trapping Dia in a tight hug. The Goldeen she’d been tossing food to scatter away in the pond.

“Dia~! It’s _so_ good to see you!” Mari declares, nearly lifting her right off her feet. Dia, though she’s pleased to see her as well, can’t accept this manhandling.

“Put me down, Mari!”

“As you wish!”

She hasn’t changed a bit. Mari grins and folds her hands behind her back, leaning a bit too close with familiar mischief rolling off her. She eyes the Pokeballs hanging at Dia’s belt.

“One, two… three! Hey, Dia, have you been taking good care of Masa’s sister?”

“Of course I have. Why wouldn’t I?” Dia turns her nose up and unclips the only plain red Pokeball from her belt, and Mari does the same for one of her own. They both toss them up at the same time, releasing the two Meowstic at the edge of the water. They blink up at their trainers, then at each other, and excitedly rub their nubby little paws over each others’ faces upon immediate recognition.

“Ohh, how adorable. Why won’t you let me do that to you?”

Dia chooses to ignore that. “How was Unova?”

“Same, same. Biiiig cities, I don’t know if you and Kanan would like it there.” Her mouth tilts. “My father is thinking of building another resort in Alola. Somewhere on Poni Island.”

Silence falls over them. They watch Mei and Masa play together in the grass, tumbling about and happily mewing. The two of them were only Espurr when Mari had gifted Masa’s sister to Dia before she left to Unova. Has it really been that long?

“The Kahuna will likely be opposed.”

“Right? That’s what I said!”

But Dia doesn’t want to talk about the Ohara family’s plans for another resort. She wants to ask Mari more about Unova, about those cities and the people there, and the Pokemon there, and all the other things Dia had never seen. Mari laughs a bit when Dia doesn’t say anything, sensing the need for a change in conversation.

“You’ve been going to the Battle Tree with Kanan as your partner, yes?” Mari tucks her hair behind her ear and tilts her head at Dia. “I actually wanted to ask both of you… there’s a similar challenge in Unova. The Battle Subway. I challenged it alone during my time there, but I thought of you two and I think double battles would be more fun. We’ll take turns, of course, but you get the idea.”

Dia’s eyes glint, just for a moment. “You know well enough that both of us would say yes.”  

“But I’m serious! I don’t think either of you would enjoy the _big city_ life!”

“Hmph, we’ll have to see about that.”


	5. crabrawler

Honoka is liquid stealth, inching along the grass with hardly a sound, silent as a warm breeze. She’s practically invisible. Not even the most weathered of Stoutland would be able to sniff her out.

Or so she would like to imagine. In truth, she’s making an awful lot of noise as she crawls with her belly flat on the ground towards a pile of berries, determined to have an afternoon snack. Why she’s choosing to go about it like this would be beyond anyone, but Honoka never seemed to care much about adhering to common sense. Her Rockruff, Fido, is also doing his best to imitate his trainer’s totally unsubtle movements.

“Close… we’re getting close… I can practically smell the berries already!” Honoka excitedly whispers to Fido. “I’ll count to three then we’ll jump! Are you ready? One, two—! _Three_!”

Trainer and Rockruff pounce at the berries. The pile shakes. 

A claw shoots out and delivers a sucker punch straight into Honoka’s face at lightning speed.

“Ow-!”

 _“Ruff! Ruff!_ ”

Honoka, knocked flat back on her ass, gingerly rubs at her bruised cheek. Mission: failed. A Crabrawler emerges from the berry pile, suspiciously eyeing the pair with its claws held up. Despite the throbbing pain in her face, Honoka still sees no reason to leave the berries be. “Aha! The guardian has appeared, eh? Fido, let’s do this! Uhh, use Tackle! Those berries will be ours!”

“ _Ruff!_ ”

No dice. Fido, bless his spirit, is quickly knocked out with a single, well-aimed punch.

“Nooooo! Fidoooo!”

But just when the flame of hope is about to be snuffed out and Honoka grimly accepts her fate of being punched again, a glob of toxic gunk hits the Crabrawler from somewhere to the left. It skitters away in a panic, leaving Honoka and her unconscious Rockruff. She whips around to see Eli and her Salazzle approaching, the former wearing that look that practically says, _I don’t know what you were doing but I bet you were doing something stupid, Honoka, why do you do these things_. It’s not a terribly uncommon expression to see directed at her these days.

“Eli! You came to my rescue!!” Honoka throws herself at the other girl and hugs her legs. “I would’ve been a goner without you…!”

“You know you’re not strong enough to take on the wild Crabrawler yet, Honoka,” Eli sighs, patting her head. “Umi said I’d find you here. She’s mad you skipped class again.”

“She knew, huh? I guess that’s Umi for you!” Honoka nervously laughs and stands, brushing the dirt off her clothes. She scoops Fido up in her arms. “Come on! How else am I gonna get better without real field experience?”

Eli’s Salazzle makes a noise that suspiciously sounds like snickering, but no one seems to notice.

“I’ll let you off the hook this time, but getting punched like that was a little…” Embarrassing. It just looked embarrassing. But Eli won’t say it out loud. She puts a hand to her chin and turns her head away, pretending to contemplate. There really isn’t anything to contemplate over when it’s _Honoka_ , though. “Anyway, I’ll take you to the Pokemon Center to heal up Fido.”

“Man, Eli, you’re always so _cool,_ ” Honoka says. Salazzle snickers yet again. “Just you wait, though! You’ll be the first one I’ll challenge once Fido evolves!”

Well, sure, however long that takes. Eli simply shakes her head and laughs, and they finally head off. Moments later, the Crabrawler cautiously emerges from its hiding spot to return to the forgotten pile of berries.


	6. stoutland

Culture shock hadn’t been an issue when Riko moved to Alola. Making friends came easy too, thanks to Chika’s overbearing enthusiasm and You’s laidback approachability. Not even homesickness could drag her days down. No, the big _problem_ would be Ride Pokemon.

The Stoutland, specifically.

Even more specifically, Chika’s Stoutland. Once again, Riko finds herself discreetly trying to place herself as far away from Shiitake as possible when she goes to hang out with Chika and You. Chika doesn’t seem to notice and cheerfully continues to lead Shiitake around in the grass as she babbles on to her friends.

“We found some colorful shards by the beach last week! I dunno what they’re for, but Kanan said I should save them. She said there’s some collectors who’ll exchange rare things if we gather enough. Think we’ll find more today?” Chika says. You stretches her arms above her head and glances over her shoulder at Riko, who’s suspiciously lagging behind.

“Dunno, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. Hey, Riko, what do you say?”

Chika, You, and… Shiitake all stop and turn around. Riko freezes and jumps when she accidentally makes eye contact with the Stoutland for a split second. “A-ah, me? Sure, we could… try that. Um. Does Shiitake _have_ to come with us…?”

“Well, yeah! How else are we gonna find buried treasure?” Chika ruffles the fluff around Shiitake’s face, and he lets out a deep, resonating _boof_. Riko makes a noise that sounds like a frightened Togedemaru. “Shiitake’s the best at sniffing and digging out the rarest stuff!”

“You guys have Stoutland in Kalos too, right? But I heard no one really uses ‘em for treasure hunting there.” You falls back in line a bit to walk beside Riko, as if she senses her discomfort. Riko smiles gratefully, but then she’s back to squinting warily at Shiitake’s back.

“No, we don’t. But we do ride Gogoat, though the Gogoat Shuttle is only in Lumiose City.”

“I wanna ride a Gogoat in a big city someday!” Chika declares. Shiitake suddenly bucks, nearly tossing her right off his back. “Whoa-a-a, boy!”

“They’re also safer than Soutland…”

You peers at her. “Hm? Did you say something, Riko?”

“N-No, don’t pay any mind to me!”

Shiitake softly _boofs_ again, slowing down for a moment to look behind him. Straight at Riko. _Eye contact_. Unnerved, she immediately places herself behind You and tightly grips her shoulders.


	7. machamp

“Oh. Hello there… Kotori?”

It’s Kotori alright, but she’s cradled in the gloved arms of a Machamp, of all things. She cheerfully saves from her cradle and the Machamp waves as well with its two free arms. Umi nearly loses her grip on her fishing rod and fumbles with it. “Umi! Look, I got a Machamp!”

She really doesn’t know what to say to this strange sight. There’s a tug at her rod, but she doesn’t notice. “…I see.”

“Her name is Buffy. Isn’t she the cutest?”

 _Cute_ isn’t the word she’d use, but she supposes there’s a certain… charm in those muscles. Maybe it’s a subjective thing. Buffy flexes and lifts Kotori, smiling wide. No, it’s not cute, it’s just weird. No one uses Machamp for riding around these parts. There isn’t anything for Machamp to _do_ besides the occasional construction work in the heart of the city. Kotori must have registered one on a spontaneous whim, if Umi has to make a guess. Unless…

“Are your legs alright? Are you able to walk on your own?” Umi’s brows furrow together in concern.

Kotori pats the Machamp’s arm and she’s carefully set down. On her feet. Standing perfectly fine. Umi supposes she should be relieved, but she still can’t condone such a ridiculous thing. “So you don’t _need_ a Machamp to carry you.”

“Maybe not. Aww, Umi, you can’t tell me to put Buffy away. She’s not one for battles, so I thought it’d be good to keep her busy!”

“Besides,” Kotori continues before Umi can get a word in, “It’s so thrilling, being held in such strong, muscular arms…” She leans in, fully aware of the scandalized blush rising up Umi’s neck. “Don’t worry, those arms still don’t compare to yours.”

“K- _Kotori!_ ”

“Okay! Well, we’ll be on our way, then!” With another tap to one very impressive bicep, Buffy the Machamp scoops back Kotori up in her arms and carries her away. 

Umi stares after them for a long, long minute. She rapidly blinks when she remembers her fishing rod and reels her line in to find the bait gone, to her dismay.


	8. guzzlord

“I don’t know why you had to drag _me_ with you all the way out in the middle of nowhere.” Maki is grumbling, no surprise there, but Rin is all but resilient to her criticism. She’ll admit the meadow was beautiful— it was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen, in fact, but then it led to this dark, damp cave with jagged stones and cold air. Resolution Cave. If Maki were the one given the task of naming it, she would’ve named it Horrible Cave instead.

There was someone lending out Mudsdale to ride over the treacherous rocks through to the end, so now they also get to experience the wonders of this awful cave while bouncing on the back of a smelly Pokemon. Just to let Rin know she’s annoyed, Maki squeezes her around the middle a bit too tightly.

Rin wheezes. “M-Maki, you’re hugging me too hard…!”

“That’s the point.”

Rin tries to talk about other things, mostly about the rumors on the other islands about mysterious sightings, but Maki stubbornly refuses to say anything until they no longer hear the crunch of jagged stones beneath the Mudsdale’s hooves. It abruptly stops as the tunnel begins to slope downwards and whinnies, signaling for the two to get off.

They’ve reached the tunnel leading into the deepest chamber. The air is even colder and more damp down here, and a strong shiver runs down Maki’s back. Rin’s Raichu hovers a bit ahead to illuminate the path; they can’t see much beyond how far its light can reach. There could be all sorts of things lurking in the shadows just beyond their circle of light, and they haven’t even entered the chamber itself yet.

Maki nervously glances back. The Mudsdale is waiting for them where they disembarked, but she can’t see it anymore.

“Come on… this is dumb. There’s nothing in here but a bunch of Golbat and Dugtrio.”

“That’s what all those other trainers said before they found _it_ … nyahaha.”

“Cut it out! You’re being creepy.”

“I’m just setting the mood!”

A sharp rumble echoes through the chamber, sending bits of dust and rocks crumbling from the ceiling. Rin jumps and grabs onto Maki’s arm like a lifeline. So much for having the spirit of an explorer. But Maki isn’t better off; she reciprocates the clinging rather than trying to push Rin off, nervously looking around them. Rin’s Raichu moves closer to them, cheeks crackling.

Then it appears.

There is no suspense or build-up; a _thing_ emerges from the innermost darkness of the chamber, a gargantuan beast of gnashing steel and waving claws. Maki feels Rin’s grip on her arm tighten. She can’t tell if this beast wants to eat them or kill them. Maybe both. Maybe the former after the latter. She can’t quite tell if it’s machine or Pokemon.

“Rin…”

She looks at Rin, and in the light of Raichu’s electricity, she thinks she sees a spark of that bold, headstrong Rin she knows. And in that thought she feels comfort, even as more rocks and dust rain down from the ceiling all over them and the guttural rumble of the thing makes the entire cave tremble. Sensation returns to her arm when Rin lets go to reach for her Pokeballs.

“It’s okay. This is exactly what we came here for!” She never takes her eyes off the rumbling abomination before them, and Maki nearly shivers when she notices her uncharacteristically _sharp_ focus. Rin opens each Pokeball one at a time, and with each Pokemon that emerges a little more courage returns to them both.

“Maki, are you ready?”

So Maki reaches for her own Pokeballs as well, her heart thumping into her throat. 

“Yeah. Let’s do this. ”


	9. litwick

The sun’s yet to set past Memorial Hill, keeping it suspended in a dim evening glow. Among the wildly growing grasses and untrimmed shrubs, one girl stands in an intricate circle of pebbles, a Litwick precariously placed upon her head like a hat.

The Litwick squeaks with impatience. Yoshiko’s jaw tightens, but her concentration shan’t be broken.

“I call upon thee, lord of distortion and darkness… your humble servant Yohane is here to grant you a portal to our lowly, mortal realm! Harbinger of death, draconic beast of Hell, _Giratinaaaaa!!”_

A lone wind blows through the cemetery, but no portals appear. Absolutely nothing happens. Still, Yoshiko maintains her pose, arms held up to the sky and the Litwick dozing off.

Hanamaru watches on, completely unimpressed. “You’re getting the lore completely wrong, zura.”

“A-ah?! Zuramaru— what’re you doing here?! Hey, you interrupted the ceremony! Now I’m gonna have to start all over again!” Yoshiko’s arms fall and she stumbles back, breaking the carefully arranged pebble circle. “Argh, my summoning circle—”

“Giratina isn’t from Hell. It lives in the Distortion World. And what’s the Litwick for?”

“I-it’s my conduct. I’m doing my best, alright? I just wanna summon Giratina, nothing wrong with that!” She stomps her foot like a child, sending more pebbles flying out of position. Her Litwick cheerfully flickers its flame at Hanamaru, apparently enjoying this interruption.

“Seems kinda dangerous… and what’re you gonna do if Giratina even shows up? It’s said to be incredibly violent, y’know.”

Damn, she didn’t even think that far. A bead of sweat rolls down her temple but Yoshiko merely smirks, placing her fingers over her forehead and half-turning away. To look cool, and stuff.

“ _Heh_. Yohane would capture it, of course.”

“But you called yourself its humble servant…”

“—Quit worrying about the details, okay?! Jeez, Zuramaru!”

She can’t help but laugh there; Yoshiko just looks so _silly_ with that pout and her Litwick still sitting on her head. Maybe Hanamaru does feel a little bad that nothing would ever come from her varying summoning attempts (Darkrai neglected to show up during the previous New Moon, for instance), but she does have to admire her perseverance. She walks over, careful not to step on any of the pebbles, and reaches up to pluck the Litwick off Yoshiko’s head.

“I was on my way to the Ruins of Life to pay tribute to Tapu Lele. Why don’tcha come along with me? Maybe if ya offer something good, it’ll bring Giratina out for you.”

“Yeah, yeah… fine, I guess the planets just haven’t been properly aligned, yet.”

Hanamaru beams at her. They leave the cemetery just as the sun begins to dip below the horizon.


End file.
